(1) Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to a subdivided, yet composite, light source arrangement being particularly well suited for intensively illuminating a large space or area. Parallel light beams being emitted by individual fluorescent lamps, having relatively small diameters, if arranged according to the present invention result in simple and successful high intensity lighting for the theater and for scenery techniques. If the present invention is used to light open-air performances, the lights are more in the nature of a floodlight and can be used for providing a source of remote light covering a wide area or, spot or directed light emitted from a remote source.
(2) Description Of The Prior Art
It is a well-known fact that a filament, heated and arranged in a bulb, formed the first step of producing electrical powered light. This early solution provides a light of the intensity of about twenty lumens per watt. This prior art and ordinary incandescent bulb can be inexpensively and mass-produced. Even today, this type of bulb has application in several fields.
However, it must be recognized that the relatively weak lamp power limits the field of application of this incandescent electrical bulb. Where increased lighting requirements and intensive illumination are required, the solution provided by the incandescent, heated filament, ordinary light bulb is simply not adequate.
Recognizing the limitations of the incandescent ordinary light bulb, light sources of the fluorescent or plasma character have developed and provide significant advantages. These fluorescent or plasma-type illumination bulbs are operated on the basis of gas discharge. The light which is emitted as a result of operation of this type of bulb is in the range of about eighty-five lumens per watt. Operating conditions for the fluorescent type bulbs, defined by a flickering or variation of light in accordance with a sine curve, results in a predetermined periodicity in the intensity of illumination and, therefore, synchronization of two or more of the light bulbs becomes imperative for maximizing their use.
If, for example, three fluorescent-type bulbs are simultaneously used as a single light source and they are connected to separate phases of electrical power, uniform, i.e., low flickering illumination can be achieved to about ninety-five percent (95%). The intensity of illumination or uniformity of illumination can be, however, further increased by means of use of different individual mirrors for each bulb having a curved surface. This solution, however, is not totally advantageous since the three light bulbs, with their individual glass-like bulb housings, require a higher expense per bulb than where three sources of illumination are housed in a single glass bulb. Accordingly, costs per unit of illumination are correspondingly higher, the operational safety of the overall illumination system decreases and, at the same time, the light intensity remains between given limits and cannot be further increased.